Bseed said "But the first part is obviously a dialogue between the traveller and the shine "boy," likely a black man. He may also be the speaker in the second two sections, telling the traveller what to expect, and the traveller finishes off with the girl who stayed behind." -
When that song was popular (& I was in high school), the standard recording was in a black voice throughout. Naive as I was, then, I kept thinking, doesn't he know what will happen when the train leaves the D.C.?